The force was very strong with Star Wars: The Force Awakens this weekend. How strong? It broke so many Box Office records, I can’t even count then all. Or lazy I am!
Here they are: United States:
· Biggest Thursday preview gross with $57M.
· Biggest Friday and biggest single-day gross with $120.5M.
· First film ever to post a single day over $100M.
· Fastest film to $100M and $200M.
· Biggest December debut (nearly 3 times previous record of $84.6M).
· Biggest IMAX Thursday night preview ($5.7M), single-day ($14M, Friday), and weekend ($30.1M).
· Highest theater average for a wide release ($57,568)
Internationally:
· Biggest opening weekend of all time in UK (4-day), Australia, Russia, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Poland (3-day), Denmark (5-day), Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Serbia, New Zealand. Second biggest opening weekend in France, Belgium, Israel, Chile.
· Biggest IMAX global debut of $48M.
Remember this is only the opening weekend, imagine how many more records it is going to destroy the longer it is out. I don’t know anyone who has hated it and that includes fans and non-fans alike. I am sure many people are going to see it over and over again while it is in the theaters for the next several months and that will help make it even more money than its predecessors. Maybe even combined.
There are many great movie theaters in Los Angeles, but one of the prime ones is the Cinerama Dome. It is a theater with a larger screen wrapped around the rounded theater’s front wall. Because of that you feel like you are almost in the film as you watch it. So of course everyone wants their movie screened there, but only one film can be shown there at a time.
As soon as Quentin Tarantino knew the release date for The Hateful Eight, he asked Arclight Cinemas if he could show it there. He says they agreed to start showing it there on Christmas when the movie comes out.
Well tonight, the most anticipated movie is coming out and Star Wars has that particular theater booked. According to Tarantino for two weeks, which means it would still be there next week.
The director told Howard Stern that Arclight told him on Tuesday that Disney said that they want to keep the Cinerama Dome for the whole holiday season. Taratino goes on to claim that Disney said that if the movie chain didn’t keep Stars Wars in that theater, they would pull the movie from all of the Arclight Cinemas.
So here’s the problem with QT’s story, he says that Disney had it booked for two weeks. Well the release date for this movie has been known for over a year, so we know that would get them through New Year’s if comes out on the 18th aka tonight. So did the Arclight double book the Cinerama Dome? Is QT doing a woe is me? Is the Archlight lying to him because they don’t want to tell him the truth that they would rather have the bigger budget film in that theater that holds over 800 people instead of his smaller independent movie that has an intermission? Which movie is more likely to sell out every performance? Star Wars or The Hateful Eight? Let’s be real, even in LA it will be Star Wars! Plus, which movie are people more likely to see on Christmas? Families will want to take their kids there because it is the 2nd best place to the see the blockbuster in Los Angeles and it’s cheaper than the first place which is the El Capitan. So I don’t buy his story and I side with Disney and Arclight on this one. I mean if I were going to see Star Wars, I would want to see it there because it truly is a great way to experience for a film like this one.
Is your force with Disney or with Quentin?
Ewoks are one of the most adored things about Star Wars, but not everyone loves these cuddly creatures. When Conan O’Brien’s studio was infested with them, he called in an exterminator to kill them all. Once they started spraying, the little guys started hitting the floor like crazy. So much so, it broke my heart. I would’ve taken in a few of them, he didn’t have to murder them like that. Who else, besides the TBS host, doesn’t love the mammaloid bipeds?
I don’t think I will ever be able to watch Conan again. Well, at least not until tomorrow night at 11p when he has on the whole cast from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Hopefully, Chewbacca will confront him on this mass killing.
Yesterday, in a galaxy far far away, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots did the unthinkable on The Tonight Show. They recreated the music from the Star Wars franchise with just their voices. While that is special enough, the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens helped them out.
Not since the movie’s soundtrack, have I enjoyed those tunes as much I did with this version. I give it two lightsabers up! Don’t take my word for it, this version was so good that Darth Vader came over to the light side!
https://youtu.be/clsG2AgeXD0
Before Mark Hamill had an estranged relationship with his dad in Star Wars, he had one with his mom in Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law. How cute was the 21 year old in that 1972 episode?
